Ousted Missouri priest worked at Disney World

Associated Press

Published Saturday, June 22, 2002

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) -- A former Missouri priest who was dismissed from public ministry in 1999 in a sexual misconduct case has left his job as a greeter at Walt Disney World, at least partly because of intervention from church officials.

Disney officials said Hugh Behan, 63, left the job a week ago, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday. For the past month Behan has been under investigation by the Osage County, Mo., Sheriff's Department in a sexual abuse case involving a 10-year-old girl in 1983, said Sheriff Carl Fowler.

Disney spokesman Bill Warren confirmed that Behan "no longer works for the company," adding that there had been no complaints against him involving sexual impropriety. Disney does do criminal background checks on prospective employees, Warren said. Behan has never been arrested.

Bishop John Gaydos of the Jefferson City Diocese dismissed Behan in January 1999 amid allegations of sexual misconduct with an 18-year-old woman, sources told the newspaper. No criminal or civil charges were filed.

Since 1999, he has not been allowed any public ministry, to say Mass publicly or to wear clerical garb, a diocesan official said.